Leilú  Gardens is a land-based food sovereignty project with the intention of providing traditional food and medicine to Detroit’s urban Indigenous community. This work aims to reconnect our nourishment to the land, help heal intergenerational trauma through plant relatives, and educate a broader audience on the importance of Indigenous foodways.  

Work has already begun on our lot in Highland Park! Based on talks with neighbors and our ideas for introducing the city to Indigenous foods, we have started planting our 2021 garden.  

Along with vegetables, fruits, herbs & flowers, there will be a few surprise plantings for any who pass by. 

To help jumpstart this project and make it sustainable, we would like to obtain official ownership of the lot. Land access is a huge barrier to creating a space that is by and for BIPOC farmers and neighbors alike. Our plan is to provide space and nourishment for all to learn what it’s like to relate to our food system from seed to harvest. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Funds will be directed toward: 

-accessing land (ownership)
-operations
-garden materials (compost seeds soil amendments)
-packaging for distribution
-tools and processing equipment for our the harvest


Here are a few of articles including my previous work and personal story:

https://www.eater.com/22388129/kirsten-kirby-shoote-eater-new-guard-2021 

https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/meet-the-food-activist-chef-and-urban-farmer-helping-to-keep-indigenous-food-practices-alive-in-detroit/Content?oid=26562245 

https://civileats.com/2020/06/18/rediscovering-detroits-roots-through-indigenous-food/ 

Thank you so much for reading! Any support is greatly appreciated, we can't wait to see our seeds of resilience thrive. 

xoxo,
Kirsten Kirby-Shoote